Yellow Empire - Attempted Return

Attempted Return

After The Secret of the Swordfish, the Third World War fades into the background and the Yellow are rarely brought up again, until the 2001 story The Strange Encounter, which is set in 1954 and leans much more heavily towards science fiction.

In the new graphic novel, it is revealed that Basam Damdu, many of his advisers and his elite guard were rescued from Lhassa at the last moment by a race of time-travelers from the 81st century. 5,000 years in the future, the Earth has become a barren wasteland as a result of nuclear wars waged in the 21st century; the remnants of mankind, having recently discovered time travel, have decided to colonize the 20th century for their own survival. They believe Basam Damdu, the only man to have successfully conquered and ruled over the entire world, to be their only viable leader to help them take over the world.

Basam Damdu hatches a plan to steal a dozen hydrogen bombs from the U.S. Army; this being done, he believes he can blackmail the 20th century's leaders into surrendering the world, by threatening to launch the nuclear weapons from the future using time-travel technology. Blake and Mortimer, as well as the American Federal Bureau of Investigation, discover his plan, prevent the theft of the bombs and destroy the technology that allows time travel from the future. Basam Damdu's plan fails, and with no more time traveling device, he is confined to the 81st century for the rest of his life.